The present invention relates to an electrical connection arrangement and to a method of providing an electrical connection, and the invention relates particularly to an arrangement and method for providing an electrical connection between a first connection site inside a casing and a second connection site outside the casing. The invention is particularly, though not exclusively, applicable to vehicle engine casings containing fluids, such as diesel fuel or oil.
With the increasing use in vehicles of engine management systems it has become customary to site electrical and electronic devices in the fluid environment inside the engine casing.
It is usually necessary to connect one or more of these devices to terminations outside the casing, and hitherto this has been achieved using one or more lead wires or cables which are routed through an opening formed in the casing wall. This approach has proved to be unsatisfactory since it i difficult to form an effective, fluid-tight seal to the emergent wires or cables, fluid tending to advance along the surface of the wires or cables by capillary action. This effect is exacerbated if the fluid Pressure inside the engine casing is even slightly higher than the ambient pressure outside, and this problem is particularly acute when the fluid inside the casing is diesel fuel.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connection arrangement which at least alleviates this problem.